SUL - Sensibly Ultra-Light

Going ultra-light does not mean going ultra-stupid. Sometimes it may well be that the best bit of kit for you is not in fact the lightest.

Last weekend I went through an agonising that revolved around whether or not I should add weight to my pack and if savings could be made elsewhere to compensate.

The issue that I have is staying warm at night especially since I want to camp for most of the year.

Day and Night

During the daytime i have no problem at all in being comfortable in a wide range of temperatures. As I sit here writing this the room temperature is 15°C (see Aside) and I am wearing only a thin sweatshirt. I am warm enough.

When I am out and moving around I can be comfortable in similar clothing at 10°C.

At night the picture changes dramatically. Now my ability to maintain temperature drops dramatically and I need lots of insulation to keep me warm. This is less noticable in a tent (with low airflows) but much more noticable in a tarp (high airflows).

If I spend lots of time outdoors then my ability to maintain body temperature at night does improve but it does not do so sufficiently for me to use the same weight of sleeping bags as other people - I always have to have at least one season more of rating.

For instance I own a Snugpak Travelpak 650 which is comfort-rated to +7°C as a Summer bag. That for me is laughable.

I have used the bag comfortably at +12-14°C when fully clothed and in a Gore-Tex bivy bag and I have used it in the height of the English summer when night temperatures have been high (>18°C) at all other times it is jut good enough for me.

Bag number two is the Snugpak Chrysalsis Autumn which is comfort-rated to -5°C.

So far this year I have used the bag successfully under a tarp when fully clothed with night temperatures of +14°C and towards the end of the year when my body conditioning has been improved I have slept in still-air temperatures of +9°C when fully clothed.

Even so, this is a long way away from the temperature rating of the bag.

Hello Reality, Hello Compromise

What I therefoer need to do is to face the reality of my own requirements for gear and to look at the limitations of the body that I have. There is no doubt that being under a tarp in the middle of nowhere and being cold is absolutely no fun at all.

For various reasons I prefer to use a tarp (with a groundsheet) rather than a tent simply because it is lighter and gives me more options as to where I can camp. This means that any sleeping bag I am using will have to work a little bit harder than normal.

At night I also seem to be a bit of a wriggler and so something like a top-bag is just not going to work for me.

It should be clear that carrying additional clothing for use at night will add warmth but that the extra weight will be significant. All options then involve adding weight to my pack.

What I have in fact decided to do is to buy an exceedingly expensive down sleeping bag that is comfort rated to at least -9°C. It is the Mountain Equipment Snowline 750 and even at a sale price of £180 is the most expensive bag I have ever bought.

The weight of this bag is 1550g which by Ultralight standards is obscenely heavy. However, for me it is about 150g heavier than the bag it replaces. This particular bag also has a waterproof/windproof outer shell and so I am hoping that it will be ideal for use under a tarp. I will test and review it shortly.

This will be by far the heaviest piece of kit that I own but I feel it is necessary if I am to be comfortable in the colder months - Nov and Feb in particular. I am unlikely to be out in Dec/Jan because daylight hours are too short.

Weight Gain, Weight Loss

I would like to suggest that the extra weight is a prudent investment - because it gives me much greater capability and also because lightweight is not an option given my personal requirements.

Now that I have increased my pack weight by the best part of 200g the question is now whether or not I can lose 200g from the pack elsewhere. The answer is yes.

My MSR Pocket Rocket and Ti Mug with fuel weigh in at 300+g and using the Vargo Triad or an Esbit stove or Pepsi-can stove would easily gain me 100+g in weight savings.

Finally, there is the waterproof jacket that I use in winter - which is an unbranded Gore-Tex jacket and weighs in at 500g. I could buy a Montane 200 jacket and immediately save the best part of 300g.

In fact what I have done is bought a Montane 200 jacket in a sale for £70 (MRP £100+) and so overall my pack weight has dropped for winter use.

Aside: I carry a very small kerying thermometer on my pack and so I can note night and morning temperatures. Sometimes when testing kit I will take a greenhouse thermometer with me that has Hi/Low recording.